Today I found a beautiful, silk, hand-sewn dress. Does not have any tags. The finish is at a high level. However, I have a big problem with determining her age .... I was most interested in the zipper. Has anyone seen this type? plastic + metal? it is sewn in the left side, uniquely fastened from the armpit to the bottom and fastened with two small press studs. I'm sorry for the condition of the dress, I'm just going to restore its shine;) but I will be grateful for tips
Yesterday, here on the forum, I found a thread about a plastic zipper from the 1930s/40s, which was produced by the company of Jindřich Waldes - the founder of Koh-i-noor - "KIN" ... the company operates in Prague ... so I wonder if the zipper from my dress with the inscription Czechoslovakia and KIN is just a coincidence or some hint in dating ..... unfortunately I have not found any pictures of these plastic locks anywhere :(
I can't see the shape and design of the dress on the hanger. Can you show it another way? Does it have a gathered drop waist?
I will try to send photos on the mannequin soon But initially I can say that the waist of the dress is gathered
I can't quite tell how long it is. The waist looks like it's actually above the skirt seam - so with the puffed sleeves and rhinestone buttons, and use of plastic - I am thinking middly 50s? It looks European - I don't think KIN notions were ever sold in North America - they may have but I don't recall ever seeing any ads for the company in North American magazines, nor finding it in any NA made clothes. I usually see KIN in German and Swedish made clothing.
I'm from Poland and the Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia) is very close, so it's a European dress I'm also wondering about this silk .... in the 50s, life in this part of Europe was not the best .... also when it comes to access for exclusive materials such as silk, and a lot of it was used to sew this dress .... The top of the dress looks really special, it reminds me more of the fashion from the beginning of the century ... although I don't really know much about these times I also heard such an idea, that it may have been altered in the 1940s/50s from an older dress. it would fit in with what women in this part of Europe did after the war....they altered and sewed from what they had.....When I put it on a mannequin, it will be visible that it is not very tight around the waist, like it used to be in the 50s, so it's even more a real mystery maybe it's a dress for a girl? Although it's too wide for me ;) Thank you for your interest
I'm adding photos on the mannequin .... still before washing so I apologize for the creases and spots;) it has low waist and a narrow neckline, so the neckline does not fit well on my "Scarlett" ;)
I suspect your hunch that it was remade from an older dress is right, which is part of the reason why its hard to date. That type of silk was popular for early 20th century wedding dresses. I do think its 1950s, but late 1950s. Eastern bloc fashions generally weren't as extreme as Western styles although they followed the same silhouette trends. I bet this was someone's wedding dress or special event dress and they used Oma's wedding dress, shortening the skirt, restyling the bodice and adding the rhinestone buttons to bring it up to date.
Thank you! It also seems to me that it has been altered .... my mother told me many times that it used to be done that way, because in communist countries it was not so easy to get new, fashionable clothes I hope that I will be able to restore the shine of the dress
I also got interesting information about the buttons, that they were most likely from the Czech company Jablonex, known for the production of imitation jewelry! Everything is made into one whole
